Kagemusha
by Lady Sonnambula
Summary: What if Shikamaru had a sister? How would she affect the lives of the shinobi around her? Meet Nara Yoshiko and come along for the ride of a lifetime on her journey to become one of the best shinobi out there! Possibly ChojiOC, haven't made up my mind
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Okay! Here is my first fic, I hope you enjoy it! It is a Choji/OC story using Shikamaru's sister as my OC. I got the idea stuck in my head after I saw the episode before the final part of the chunin exam where Shikaku tells Inoichi that it is a real drag raising a daughter. So, my character was born!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters or ideas belonging Masashi Kishimoto. Any characters that you do not recognize or ideas most likely belong to me. **

**Enjoy!**

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Akimichi Choji was happy.

Two weeks ago, he would have been sitting at his family's compound, watching butterflies and eating his favorite chips by himself, with no one to play with. Now, he was sitting on a bench on top of a building with one of his first and best friend, watching clouds and eating chips together.

To Choji, this was the life.

His new friend, Shikamaru, didn't expect much from him and they were both content to sit in silence and contemplate the skies, commenting every so often on the shape of a certain cloud and munching on the variety of snacks that Choji had brought along.

For the two ten-year olds, life couldn't be better.

Soon however, evening began to set in and the once blue sky began to turn tints of orange as the setting sun began its descent into the horizon.

Shikamaru sighed, "Man what a drag, the sky is getting darker and its not even," he glanced at the watch his mother had forced upon him, "not even six yet."

Choji nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the days are becoming shorter so quickly to me." He began to put away the bags of junk food back into the pack he had brought with him.

" Shikamaru, want to meet again tomorrow after academy class? My dad got these new chips from a friend of his that hasn't even been put in stores. He wants us to taste-test them." He looked at the other boy hopefully.

The darker haired boy grinned up at him, "Sounds good to me."

At that moment loud footsteps could be heard from the stairs leading up to the rooftop and soon after, a young girl was at the top of the stairs, huffing slightly from her speedy ascent.

Catching sight of the two boys, the she began to walk towards them, her eyes narrowing, and the ends of her mouth turning into a frown.

She stopped in front of Shikamaru, placing her hands squarely on her hips as she began tapping her foot impatiently, her two spiky pigtails bounced in rhythm with her tapping.

When Shikamaru didn't look up, she became irritated, " Shikamaru!" she huffed loudly.

The lazy boy continued to ignore her, his eyes shut, feigning sleep.

The tempo of her tapping increased as the seconds ticked by and he still didn't look up to her.

"Shikamaru," she said even louder.

When he still did not answer she grabbed him by the shoulders with the strength of no normal eight-year old and began to shake the boy.

"SHIKAMARU YOU LAZY IDIOT! LOOK AT ME!" she shouted at him.

Finally he opened his eyes and looked at the enraged girl with indifference.

"What do you want Yoshiko?" he drawled out lazily.

The little girl huffed angrily and set the boy down. Her hands resumed their former position on her hips.

"Oka-san wanted you home half-an hour ago! She gave you the watch for a reason!" she said indignantly.

Shikamaru looked at her questioningly, "What reason?"

"So you wouldn't be late _baka_!" she shouted at him.

Choji was bewildered. He had never seen a girl behave that way to Shikamaru, except for Ino, but he thought she was like that because he didn't bow down before Uchiha Sasuke in admiration.

His friend however was taking the ranting girl in stride and, judging by the glazed look in his eyes, was not even listening to anything that she was saying,

When Yoshiko paused in the middle of her rampage, it was to turn her head and look at Choji.

"You must be Akimichi Choji. _Aniki_ has told me a little bit about you." She smiled sweetly at him, her expression genuine.

The chubby boy was startled at her sudden mood change and the first thing that popped out of his mouth was not a reply greeting but, "_Aniki_?"

The little girl nodded. "This lazy lump is my brother," she said gesturing to the other boy with her thumb.

Said lump sat up and sighed, rubbing his shoulder, "Akimichi Choji," he said in a bored voice, "Nara Yoshiko, Nara Yoshiko, Akimichi Choji. Yoshiko is my troublesome little sister."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Troublesome big brother." She muttered.

Choji had to grin at the similarities of the two siblings. Both had dark, spiky hair and olive skin along with almond, brown eyes. Both wore their hair bound, Shikamaru's in a ponytail on top of his head and Yoshiko with her hair in two pigtails on the lower part of hers.

All though, he thought with a small shake of his head, they have two different personalities.

Yoshiko turned to her brother once again. "By the way _nii-san_, did you ask Choji about dinner?"

At the word of 'dinner' Choji's ears perked up. He had heard of and even had tasted Shikamaru's mother's cooking when Shikamaru shared his bento box and he had to say that it was some of the best food he had ever tasted.

Shikamaru looked up thoughtfully, "Hmm...Did I?"

Yoshiko sighed, "I knew it," she muttered to herself and turned to Choji once again. "_Otou-san_ had invited you and your dad over for dinner tomorrow night, around six. Can you come?"

Choji nodded, " I think so, _chichue_ didn't say we had any plans for tomorrow so, yes."

Yoshiko beamed, "Great! I'll tell _oka-san_," she leaned in to him as if confiding a secret, "she makes the best barbequed pork." She said with a grin.

That, if anything, motivated Choji even more to make sure that he and his father would be at the Nara household the next night.

"Well, _ja ne_, my brother and I have to go home now. Come on _aniki._" She said tugging on the older boy's arm.

With a sigh, Shikamaru rose, standing a good head taller than his sister.

He nodded at Choji, " See ya tomorrow Choji."

"Yeah, _sayonara_ Shikamaru, Yoshiko-san."

The little girl flapped a hand at him, "Not so formal Choji-kun. Yoshiko-chan is fine with me."

"Sure," said Choji with a smile ,which Yoshiko returned.

With a last goodbye and a wave, the two Nara siblings headed down the stairs, Shikamaru grumbling about the troublesome women in his life. Choji heard an answering retort of "troublesome men" from Yoshiko's higher pitched voice.

The young boy shook his head once again in amusement and started off towards his home.

Yes, things were definitely a lot better now.

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_So what do you all think? Click that little button down there and tell me!_

**R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Well here is another chapter in the life of Yoshiko Nara. I hope you all like it! For terms and names that you are unfamiliar with, I have listed them at the bottom of this page. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, anything you are unfamiliar with is most likely created by me.**

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The next morning, Yoshiko got up just as the sun began to peek up from the horizon, chasing away the darkness with hues of pink and orange.

She yawned sleepily as she pushed down the alarm for her small mechanical clock. Blinking sleep away from her eyes, she began to quietly dress herself.

Opting for brown Capri pants instead of her usual knee-length skirt, Yoshiko opened her door quietly and tiptoed out of her room.

The Nara household was quiet, nothing stirred in the soft early morning except the small girl walking silently through the halls. Passing by her brother's room, she stopped and peered through his open door.

Shikamaru was sleeping peacefully, snoring lightly, a trail of drool creeping down the corner of his open mouth. His covers lay on the floor of his room and his body spread out to all corners of the bed.

Yoshiko shook her head and stepped into the room, trying to be as silent as possible. Gathering his sheets in her arms, she gently laid them on top of his sleeping form, tucking the blankets around him. Glancing down, she spotted another item on the floor, which she promptly put underneath her brother's arm.

Shikamaru grunted in his sleep and turned on his side, clutching tightly to his chest the stuffed deer his parents had given him on his fifth birthday.

Yoshiko smiled softly at her brother's actions.

Patting his head fondly, the eight year old crept out of the bedroom, a pair of very awake, brown eyes following her out.

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Yoshiko hummed a happy tune to herself as she skipped down the dirt road that lead to the Nara Deer Reserve.

Because of the Nara clan's assistance in the establishment of Konoha, as well as their medicines containing deer antlers, the First Hokage had gifted an area of land near the Hokage Mountain for the use of breeding and herding the Nara deer.

All those who were apart of the clan had a particular fondness for this place and usually would come and work there for a period of time, taking care of the deer and harvesting the molted antlers.

Reaching the gate that stood outside of the grounds, she took a deep breath, relishing the smell of pine and dirt mixed in with the mountain's own flavor of air.

Standing on her tiptoes, the little girl attempted to wring the bell that hung attached to the wooden fence. She was met with little success.

Huffing impatiently to herself, Yoshiko let her gaze wander around the area, searching for anything that could give her a boost. Even at eight years old, she still was considered much smaller than she should be for her age.

Spotting nothing, Yoshiko crouched low to the ground, her small knees bent almost against her chest.

With a small cry, she sprung herself into the air, hand outstretched for the string connected to the small bell. All her hand met was air and she was falling through the space, the ground coming to meet her quickly when two strong hands suddenly caught her, grasping her firmly by the waist.

"Whoa, _chotto matte_ Yoshiko-chan." A warm voice said, full of mirth.

Yoshiko lifted her eyes to meet those that were as brown as hers were.

Recognizing the face in front of her, the girl grinned and smiled happily at her rescuer.

"_Ohayou_ Takaichi oji-san!" she greeted cheerfully.

The man smiled back and placed his niece back on the ground, having to bend in half in the process.

"Down you go," he said when she placed her feet on the ground,

Dusting herslef off, Yoshiko craned her neck to look up into the face of her father's younger brother, Nara Takaichi.

He was a tall man, much taller than the average Nara male, with long brown, shaggy hair that was tied halfway up in a small ponytail at the crown of his skull. His eyes were a light brown color that would wrinkle into slits whenever he laughed.

Those eyes were now watching her with amusement as she attempted to gather what ever shred of dignity she had left from falling in front of one of her favorite relatives.

Finally, she spoke, " Oji-san, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't come her till six?" she asked in a body tone.

Takaichi raised an eyebrow, "I should be asking you that same question. It's a little early to be visiting Chame-chan now isn't it?"

Yoshiko shrugged her shoulders," Well, I wanted to visit her early today because I won't be able to see her this afternoon. Otou-san invited over the Akimichi and Yamanaka 's over for dinner. Kaa-san says she want's me to help her. She says I need the practice, whatever that means." She rolled her eyes.

Takaichi chuckled slightly.

Yoshiko's cooking was infamous throughout the Nara clan,. Her so called "experiments" had led many of it's members to indigestion and long lasting constipation. Of course, no one had the heart to tell Yoshiko this and when a relative came to call, they always recieved her food with a smile, then quickly scraped it off into the nearest plant or waste bin.

Takaichi was sure Yoshino had lost many good plants to these actions.

"Well then," he said with good humor, "I think that I should let you in , we can't keep Chame-chan waiting."

Yoshiko's face brightened up considerably, " Thank you oji-san!"

Takaichi turned to face the gate and began a long formation of seals, which ended once he placed his palm over the Nara symbol. At his touch, the large, wooden doors opened and Yoshiko raced through, shouting out a last thank you over her shoulder towards her amused uncle.

Takaichi shook his head, "Kids today, so impatient to get about." Continuing to shake his head at his small niece's antics, he began to prepare for the day's work.

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Yoshiko raced through the pastures filled with deer, every so often throwing an apology behind her when she rushed through heard, only stopping to move around piles of dear excrement.

She was heading towards one particular place, a place that she knew she wouldn't be disturbed and where she could actually do what she had originally planned. Oh she didn't lie to her uncle, she just only told him half the reason why she was so early.

Sighting a clump of trees in front of her, Yoshiko slowed down her place to a fast jog, then to a walk when she entered the forest.

The forest was old, its trees shot up from the earth to touch the heavens with their green, leafy arms. Yoshiko had to crane her neck all the way back in order to take a peak of the canopy.

Bird song filtered through her ears and the sharp smell of resin tickled her nostrils as she kept walking towards her destination. Every so often she spotted a deer that would then stop in the process of eating to watch her progress. Every so often she would wave to one and sometimes she got a nod in return.

Finally, the trees began to thin and Yoshiko was suddenly in the middle of a small clearing. A brook bubbled near by and several bees hummed contently as they sucked nectar from the variety of flowers that thrived there.

In the middle of the clearing stood a large maple tree, proudly rising several feet higher than it's surrounding neighbors, its green leaves creating a large dome around its trunk.

Yoshiko crossed the clearing to stand underneath the maple tree.

Looking up, she marveled at the complexity at which its branches grew and giggled delightedly when a large leaf floated down and landed on her nose.

"Hello again Momiji-sama, I came for a visit." Greeted the young girl.

When Konoha was in its early stages, it had suffered over several attacks from a neighboring village over a border dispute. The attacks grew into a full-fledged war between the leaf-ninja and the hostile forces. Finally, tired of all the bloodshed and seeking peace for his country, the daimyo sent one of his advisors to contract a truce between the two villages.

In order to ensure peace, the advisor drew up a marriage contract between the cousin of the leader of the other village and Nara Shomu, who was also one of the advisor's relatives. A maple seed was planted at the place of the marriage to symbolize the truce between the two villages. Since then, the other ninja village fell into to decline and vanished forever while Konoha and the Nara family flourished.

Yoshiko had always found the story to be exciting and loved to visit the maple often.

There were two other reasons for her arrival at the tree however and she began to search for the first one at once.

"Chame-chan!" she called out.

At her call, a small, spotted deer came out from behind the large trunk of the maple tree, followed by its mother.

The young fawn pranced happily in front of Yoshiko, its large brown eyes wide with merriment. It began nipping and licking the girl's clothes and Yoshiko laughed when its long, pink tongue began to tickle her hand.

"I know, I know. I haven't forgotten." She reached into her pocket and pulled out two, small salt blocks.

The fawn grabbed the proffered gift out of Yoshiko's hands and began to lick and suck it greedily.

She laughed," Your so impatient Chame-chan!" Yoshiko then offered the other block to the doe, who took it gently by her teeth and set on the ground by the tree.

"It's a wonder she is related to you Kanjo-san." She remarked, addressing the doe. "She is so impatient to eat her treat instead of saving it for later."

Kanjo looked at Yoshiko and with what the girl guessed to be a nod of agreement, sat down at the base of the tree.

Chame, her daughter, had already finished the treat and began bugging Yoshiko for more.

When the she found that her mistress had only brought two, the fawn became bored and decided to chase a small butterfly that had been nestled in the flowers.

After observing the deer's antics for a few minute, Yoshiko decided it was time to get down to business.

Distancing herself slightly from the two animals, Yoshiko shifted into a squat position, placing her feet shoulder length apart. Closing her eyes in concentration, she began forming a series of seals with her two hands, muttering their names over and over.

Finally arriving at the last seal, Yoshiko opened her eyes and concentrated on her shadow, forcing chakra into it in order to lengthen its shape.

"_Kage mane no jutsu_!" she exclaimed.

Gradually, the shadow grew longer and longer until Yoshiko finally collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

Raising her head, she noticed Chame standing still a long ways from her, her eyes trained on the young girl, her shadow joined with Yoshiko's.

After she got to her feet, Yoshiko took out a long white string and began to measure the distance from where she had stood to where her fawn was standing now. After calculating the measurements in her head, Yoshiko broke out into a large smile and a loud whoop rose from her lips.

" _Yosh_!" she cheered " Three more feet than last time! That's a new record Chame-chan!"

The deer, unfrozen from the technique, began to prance delightedly around the girl, sharing in her mistress's success.

Ever since her father had gifted the small deer to her for her last birthday, Yoshiko and Chame had been inseparable to the point that her mother had made her agree to go to the Reserve only once, at most twice, a day, if she had been good. Chame not only was Yoshiko's greatest friend, but also her training buddy who helped the young Nara train in secret.

The reason for the secrecy was the current issue in the Nara clan.

The big debate was whether or not to teach the clan's secret jutsu, the _kage mane, _or shadow bind to her. This was a cause for speculation because Yoshiko was one of the first Nara females that had been born in several generations, and therefore there came a question whether she could become a ninja.

The decision would usually rest in the hands of her father as the oldest living son of Nara Shikaichi, Yoshiko's grandfather. Instead however, it was to be her great uncle, Nara Kofuku, who would decide.

The answer had to be delivered soon for she was applicable for enrollment at the Ninja in a few months and it was only then when the technique was taught.

Needless to say this did not stop her from trying to learn the technique and after several sessions of spying on her father and brother while they trained she had almost perfected it, with help from Chame of course.

After she trained for an two hours, Yoshiko bid good bye to Chame and her mother, then hurried back home, hoping to sneak back in time before breakfast ended.

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Chame –brown eyes, mischievious

oji-san –uncle

momiji – great maple

Kanjo –gentle and quiet

_Please R&R! It makes me feel happy!_


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